AMT Peterbilt 359 Cali. Hauler ?

[Old Buckaroo]

I have been looking at this kit on the bench now for several days. I am hitting a stumbling block on attaching the fenders to the hood. The hood has that nice groove for them. If you position the fender all the way to the front groove it does not fit right due to the step up on the rear of the fender. If you position to where it is level there is about a .030" gap.

So you guys that have built this kit what did you do about this, have the gap and fill it with a strip of styrene or did you eave the gap , Or remove some material off the step up to where it fits flush against the hood sides ?

Edited March 15, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[Force]

The AMT 359 fenders are too short anyway and Porky at P & P Resins has corrected ones in resin, otherwise I thik Tim Ahlborn has a tutorial somewhere on how to fix them.
It was so long ago since I built an AMT Peterbilt 359 (over 20 years) so I don't remember what and how I did when I built it.

[Old Buckaroo]

Thanks Hoss,

I should of known you would be of assistance.

This is the gap I am referring to. I am going to go ahead and fill it with a strip of styrene.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[Force]

Ahh I see what you mean...well I would do that too.
I just bought me the first version of the AMT California Hauler 359 with a Detroit Diesel 8V-71 for a decent price, the later 359 versions has a Cummins NTC.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Force

[Old Buckaroo]

I traded for three of these kits, but only one is the early version with the Detroit and it has a smaller back window also. Which I think is way cooler then the later versions.

I just learned from Tim that the step is wrong and should be higher up on the fender - about 3-4 scale inches. It lines up with the internal bracket on the real fender. The kit has it at the bottom.

When you going to start on yours ?

[Force]

Yes it's cool, and I also have the early small window wrecker version.

What Tim doesn't know about Peterbilt's aren't worth knowing.

Who knows...maybe when I get rid of the severe case of builders block I got right now.

[scale trucker]

one of those versions has all the small windows and square door corners

[Old Buckaroo]

This is the box the small window /Detroit came in . The cab is also shorter, only maybe a scale inch below the door. *possibility the box may have been replaced at one time *

The kit I am working on now

[Force]

I think the small window-Detroit Diesel version of the California Hauler had kit # T-500 and came with two boxarts.

This one wich is the one I have...

and this

The version after that with new cab and Cummins engine wich replaced the small window kit had kit #T-501 and had the boxart the truck you're building has, and that's the 359 still with us today.

Here is the #T-522 wrecker version of the small window-Detroit Diesel kit and that was also replaced with the later cab and Cummins engine kit.

One thing to be sure if you have the small window cab or the later cab is if there is a small oval window on the passenger door, the later version doesn't have that but the small window kit does.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Force

[Q tip]

ah-ha, now i know what your up to! thats how i would fix it, just a small piece of plastic to fill the gap. and the narrow window is the nicer looking of the two. its from the 60's where the bigger window was the updated product that lasted until the late 80's to be then replaced with the 379.

[Old Buckaroo]

I agree with you on the narrow window being the best looking. I am saving it for something special (dont know what yet) .

The one I am working on is coming along pretty well. The engine had been poorly assembled and a glue bomb. Spent several days cutting it apart and cleaning off the yellow hard glue. I wish I had taken a pic of it, but I had a spare one so if that one had not worked out it would of hit the trash. But I was able to save it, had to make a complete water pump drive belt assembly and a few other parts but all is good. The rest of the kit was untouched.

Also moved the step on the fender up higher as mentioned above.

[Q tip]

ok , so your gonna keep me in suspence. may i suggest a 60" bare metal Able sleeper? all the white w/s ,diamond reo and road boss have them. wouldnt take much to combine a couple. oh yeah, i can see it now!

[Force]

I thought the sleepers in the Diamond REO and White Road Boss were Mercury sleeper boxes, and they are shorter than 60 inches...more like 36 or something like that.
But AITM has a 60 inch Mercury sleeper if you want a larger one.

[Old Buckaroo]

John - I might do that for my next Pete. I have really taken a liking to these kits. Never built one even as a teen 30 some years ago. My buddy was a Pete fanatic so I stayed clear of the kits to let him have the thunder.

This is the paint scheme I have planned for the one I am working on even though this is an older cab.

Random pic found using Internet Search.

Hoss - thanks for the info on that 60" sleeper !

Edited March 17, 2014 by Old Buckaroo

[37 caddy]

The easiest way to tell the bare cabs apart is by the door handles,the early one has the wing style exterior door handles,the later one has the flush mount ones in the lower section of the doors.The hoods were very similar,however the early one did not have the hinges,it was attached to the front bumper,which was also a narrow style,not the deep bumper that the later one had, Harvey

[Old Buckaroo]

Who knows...maybe when I get rid of the severe case of builders block I got right now.

Well we need to come up with something to get you out of that...

You have some really nice kits waiting to be shown off to the world.

[bandit1]

There is a thread here somewhere about all the different issues of the Pete kit.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48216&hl=

[Q tip]

like to have that single axle just to drive to the store

[Old Buckaroo]

like to have that single axle just to drive to the store

I could vision that.

Speaking of sleepers earlier - I saw a pic in a book of a W-925 with the Stainless Steel sleeper all polished up. Not sure if it was an Able or Mercury as the glare off of it was too much to make out details. I bet that was something !